Stronger debt recovery action by the tax office is pushing more businesses under and putting more people at risk of personal bankruptcy. The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has issued tens of thousands of director penalty notices that make people personally liable for tax and super debts and give them just 21 days to pay. It is also more commonly using garnishee notices, which allow it to take money directly from a person's bank account or employer. This has seen calls from financially distressed small business owners to debt helplines skyrocket to unprecedented levels and it's pushed the rate of insolvencies to around peaks seen just after the global financial crisis. #ABCBusiness #taxdebt #ATO Subscribe: http://ab.co/1svxLVE Read more here: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-07-16/directors-personally-liable-for-unpaid-superannuation-tax-ato/104086046 ABC News provides around the clock coverage of news events as they break in Australia and abroad. It's news when you want it, from Australia's most trusted news organisation. For more from ABC News, click here: https://ab.co/2kxYCZY Watch more ABC News content ad-free on ABC iview: https://ab.co/2OB7Mk1 Go deeper on our ABC News In-depth channel: https://ab.co/2lNeBn2 Like ABC News on Facebook: http://facebook.com/abcnews.au Follow ABC News on Instagram: http://instagram.com/abcnews_au Follow ABC News on X (Twitter): http://twitter.com/abcnews Note: In most cases, our captions are auto-generated. #ABCNews #ABCNewsAustralia